Free safety check costs a grand

Well, here's one that will make you smile! My son in law bought a used vw golf from a crap dealer, sorry car dealer in Blackburn. I checked the car over and said it was not worth the money, I didn't need to get underneath to give it a proper inspection, due to me saying don't buy.
The son in law had to buy it as he needed a car for work, and he told me he could resell it if it didn't work out. Well guess what? it used a sump full of engine oil in less than a week, and had a cold start problem. Of course the 3 coil springs needed replacement along with some impact damage which made the car steer to the left by itself. When he decided to sell it I told my son in law to tell the potential customers exactly all the faults and the low asking price would compensate the buyer. The vehicle was sold, I asked said son in law did you tel the new owner of the faults, he said that the new owner said it was great and drove really well. It was a local VW DEALER MECHANIC who bought the car!!!!!!!!

Do not go to any VW garage. We were quoted stupid prices at a VW garage for parts/repairs we didn't really need. Do not go to the VW garage in Colindale, North West London. RIP OFF.

Totally agree with Wingman
Took the VW in to Martins for a free check up
Ended up with estimates for £600 plus
Nothing more than a sales tool to bring in more Revenue to Martins
VW should audit their service centres and stop this
Who do you think is reliable for vw servicing in Camberley?

I had the same experience with my Golf, 6 years ago when the dealership was Whites. I kept getting a screaching sound when I was doing a sharp left turn. Initially they couldnt find anything wrong, then I had a call from them to say that the front disk brakes and pads needing replacing as they were corroded. This would cost me over £500 .The car was only 2 years old with a very low mileage which they said was the reason for the corroding, it hadnt been used enough. When I said why cant it be done under the warranty they said it was wear tear and not covered, which is a contridiction in itself. So I told them not to touch the car and I went round to pick it up. I took it to my usual garage, Vulcan Motors in Sandhurst (briliant garage can highly recommend ) where I used to take my prevoius car. They looked at it, took a wire brush to the corrosion and charged me £50. Nothing wrong with the brakes at all.

I was told last May, following an MOT and service on our 3-year-old Golf at Martins VW Camberley, that the brake pads were worn and the rear lower arm bushes cracking, both as advisory items. I requested that they be repaired, and was told they had been. In October, Martins phoned and asked if I'd had the advisory items done, and I pointed out that they had been done on the day they were diagnosed. Martins confirmed on the phone that this was the case. Today, a year later, I have just had the car MOTed elsewhere, and was given an advisory for worn brake pads; they had clearly not been replaced last year. On returning to Martins, I was told that neither pads nor cracking arms were on the invoice. I agree I should have checked this, but foolishly, in retrospect, took the word of an expensive franchised dealership. They said they'd check the job card, but then returned and said it couldn't ve found. I was quoted £200 for replacing pads and discs (which were apparently 'lipped and worn'). When I suggested a reduction might be in order, bearing in mind I had been driving a car for a year believing that it had new brake pads, a VW man at the neighbouring desk, who had overheard, suggested that in fact the quote should have been for £250, and so I was already being offered a reduction. This web of evasion and varying quotations led me to take the car to a local non-franchised VW specialist garage for a second opinion. I was told that the discs are fine and that it would be extremely rare for them to need replacing after 44000 miles. I was quoted £80 total for replacing the brake pads with original VW parts. I am appalled by the apparent lack of concern by Martins, and very disappointed after so many years of VW ownership.

Are you sure this is correct from camaberely VW? I like them alot much better than Maidenhead branch that are snotty and big headed I am going in for a free ecu checking up on saturday at camberley. The thing is I live in maidenhead but got to camberely .

VW are now money pits which is a real shame, their old cars were built much better.

I have had Wayside in Towcester and Leicester VW try and charge me for parts covered by the waranty. My 2005 GT TDI mk5 Golf is constantly going wrong.

Take all issues up with VW customer services because the stealers are all cowboys and simply don't care.

Also before taking your car in for repairs ring the waranty company directly to check a component is covered.

I would also reccomend getting an independant diagnosis before taking your car anywhere near a VW dealer for £45 you can avoid being raped.

Reading the above VW gripes one thing is crystal clear, which I was fortunate enough to pick up on very quickly. Don't try to resolve problems with VW dealers, generally speaking you won't get very far. Go direct to VW Customer Services and take up the problems with them. I had one helpful dealer and one not so helpful but CS sorted it out for me. Try it!

We took our VW Golf GT TDI To Martins in Camberley, They charge us a fortune to diagnose and replace a door lock and then investigate a problem with the Sat Nav, (loose connection?) then proeceeded to tell us that we had worn mounting bushes and CV joints. Suggested that it wasn't urgent but needed fixing at some time in the near future. About £350 including labour.
We had a friendly mechanic look at it for us and said there was nothing wrong with the car.
Three months on; we have just had it put through an MOT and it passed with flying colours. Even asked the Engineer afterwards regarding the CV joints that highlighted by Martins VW and he has since told us a few 'horror' stories about them.

We never learnt our lesson as many years ago we had a VW MOT'd at Martins of Camaberley (previously Whites VW) passed our car with two large nails from a black smiths shop. We had a puncture shortly after leaving the garage on the way home.
We complained at the time and they gave us two free new tyres at their expense.

As you can see, we gave them another chance, but clearly they have not changed. That will be the last time we go there.
Service reception staff had an arrogant and dismissive attitude. Could even smile while they were robbing you.
Avoid them at all costs.

VW Martins in Camberley avoid at all costs as they are the most corrupt, deceiptful posse I have ever come across.

They taped up a hole in my exhaust, sprayed it silver and charged me for a new part plus labour.

Do yourself a favour and drive past and find a reputable garage with decent staff.

My friend has had a similar experience with this bunch of cowboys - sold him an "approved" Golf with dodgy tyres & leaky water pump. When they eventually replaced the water pump the drivshaft fell of on the way home!!

Cowboys - I'd avoid at all costs!

I recently took my 2001 Golf GTI to Barnstaple (Devon) VW for a service, they recommended it also had brake fluid change at £46.80. So with some minor parts and quick snagging I got a bill for £281.82. Two weeks later I took it to a local VAG specialist, turns out they clearly hadn't carried out basic service checks and had just syphoned the brake fluid out and replaced it with new stuff rather than bleeding it through properley. I'm fuming... nearly £300 for a brake fluid top-up, basic oil & filter change, £22 worth of parts and about 15 mins labour. Last time I'll ever use a dealer, independent specialists in the future and VW head office are getting a long letter from me!